Missing is a mobile role-playing game by Missing Link Trust where the player assumes the role of one of the many girls who go missing in India every year. And, as ideas go, it's certainly not a bad one.
I first picked up Missing because it advertised itself as a game with a social conscience and the graphics seemed really good - both big pluses in my book. Would have been an even bigger plus if they had featured zombie slavers... nah, I'm kidding. Even zombies couldn't save this game.
The Premise
You play Ruby, a girl in India who has been abducted and forced to work in the sex trade. The story chronicles her day-to-day survival and eventual escape from her predicament.
It's a puzzle-based game with the puzzles built into the story, with a predominantly point-and-drag interface.
The Aesthetics
The game is full of nicely rendered spaces to walk in, depicting the squalor pretty well. The character portraits are actor photographs and they're quite apt most of the time - from the sleazy pimp Masi to the brutal enforcer Shonty. The amount of detail put into each environment is great.
The Experience
This is a nice story with good atmospheric effects. Even though I kind of knew that there was a happy ending in there (it would be way too depressing otherwise) I still wanted to see this game through to the end.The Interface
Use your finger to drag around the screen, and Ruby will run where you direct her to.
The book in the bottom left is a journal for you to track your progress with, and the items in your inventory will be used at some point in the game.
During conversations with NPCs, you choose conversation options to advance the story and get information.
What I liked
Puzzles. The ones which advanced the story were pretty good. They weren't hard enough to be annoying, but not so easy that they insulted your intelligence. For the most part, it was just a matter of hiding from roaming enforcers.
In terms of aesthetics, the graphics are brilliantly painted and as far as prettiness goes, Missing is probably up there with the best.
The creators of the game did a great job with the story here. It is kind of short, but compelling simply because it's based on real situations. The sexual violence isn't too in-your-face and does just enough to bring its point across.
What I didn't
The font used in narration and conversations. Narrow and all-caps. Considering all the effort they took to make this game look so pretty, why did they choose such a hideous one?Animation. The great pity about the gorgeous graphics is the silted animation, and sometimes very obvious visual glitches.
The Mini-game where Ruby has to earn money from men. It begins with a time limit, bargaining with a chosen target and closing the deal with a tasteful fade-to-black. Firstly, this mini-game is silly and repetitive. The goal is to earn enough money so that Masi will let Ruby off for the day and give her a chance to advance the storyline. Problem is, every time Ruby meets her quota for the day, Masi will up the quota. Maybe all this is meant to convey the hopelessness that Ruby finds herself in, but we're playing a game here. Being depressing is one thing, but this is pure drudgery.
No replay value. This happens with a lot of RPGs with linear storylines, but in this case, even the various dialog options don't offer anything that interesting on replay.
The final stage. Oh, the horror! It's an absolute pain in the arse to play and again. Maybe this is deliberate in order to convey the danger and frustration... but enough is enough. Look at the screenshots above, then imagine playing them in the dark. Literally, because that stage happens during a blackout.
Conclusion
This game's a mixed bag. The idea is good, but the execution is so dismal that I'm tempted to warn you off it. Still, it's not all bad. There are parts which are good... which unfortunately makes the bad parts stand out even more. This game is the perfect example of how good graphics aren't everything.My Rating
5.5 / 10
You might want to consider missing this game...
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